This invention relates to an apparatus for the storage and displaying of advertising material and, more specifically, to an apparatus for the storage and presentation of back-lit advertisement carriers. The invention extends to a system for facilitating billing of advertisers whose advertising material is presented in the display apparatus.
Devices are known for the presentation of advertising posters within pockets, consisting of two transparent flexible sheets joined together at their edges to form display envelopes. The display envelopes are stored in a chamber in a substantially parallel orientation and are drawn individually from the storage chamber by a drive device to a presentation position where the display envelopes are back-lit and displayed for viewing, for a predetermined time period. The display envelope is then moved by the drive mechanism out of the presentation area and returned to the storage compartment whilst a subsequent display envelope is moved into position in the presentation area.
Such devices are disclosed in PCT Patent Application No. 96/30888 and PCT Patent Application No. 93/04616.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,987 discloses a display system in which transparent image-bearing sheets are transported through a viewing apparatus and positioned in a backbit viewing window. The sheets are stored in a compartment behind the viewing window and are individually transported from the storage compartment to the viewing window and back to the storage compartment by a chain entrained on a pathway through the display system. Each sheet is suspended in the storage compartment from corresponding rod which is engaged in the chain for transportation of the sheet to the viewing window.
PCT Patent Application WO 96/30888 relates to a similar display system for presenting advertising posters in a back-lit presentation area. The posters are moved out of a storage compartment into the presentation area and returned to the storage compartment by a drive mechanism consisting of a motor-driven endless belt.
French Patent No. 2.717.602 teaches a display apparatus in which advertising posters are displayed sequentially in a presentation area. Each advertising poster may be displayed in the presentation area for a predetermined time determined by an identification code carried by the poster. The display apparatus includes a facility for reading and decoding the identification code on each poster.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,993 relates to an apparatus for displaying any one of a number of backdrops for use in a photographic studio. The backdrops are carried on a continuous roll, the ends of which are connected to different shafts. The shafts are motor driven to allow automated scrolling of the different backdrops for display. Sensors are provided to detect the position of the continuous roll and a processor allows automated movement of the roll from one backdrop to another.
These patents disclose various mechanisms for drawing the display envelopes into the presentation area, such as tractor feed mechanisms or friction based drives. A common problem with these prior art embodiments is that they lack reliability and consequently do not provide sustained error-free operation.
A further problem with advertising apparata of this type is difficult that of providing accurate billing to advertisers due to the fact that it is difficult to assess the amount of exposure given to an advertiser""s material on account of the unreliability of the devices themselves. Furthermore, it is difficult to provide the advertiser with an itemised account of the actual times that his advertising material has been displayed.
It is an object of this invention to provide a display apparatus and a system for displaying advertising material which will, at least partially, alleviate the above-mentioned difficulties.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a display apparatus, including:
a chassis frame and a housing defining a storage compartment for storing a plurality of display envelopes in a substantially parallel configuration, the storage compartment having an inlet and an outlet;
drive means for drawing a display envelope along a predetermined trajectory through a presentation area and into the inlet of the storage compartment;
lighting means for back-lighting the display envelope whilst positioned in the presentation area; and
engagement means for sequentially drawing successive display envelopes through the outlet of the storage compartment
characterised in that
the drive means Includes at least one endless drive belt locatable over a pair of rollers spaced away from each other at opposing ends of the chassis frame, the endless belt having a bearing face, and at least one spring secured to the chassis frame for urging the bearing face of the endless drive belt against the surface of the display envelope whilst located at least partially in the presentation area.
Further the invention provides for the at least one spring to be an undulating leaf spring, for the drive means to include two endless drive belts in a parallel configuration arranged to bear on opposing ends of the display envelopes in a direction parallel to an intended direction of travel of the display envelope, for the bearing faces of the endless drive belts to be silicon-coated, for the drive means to include a pressure equalisation assembly for equalising the pressure applied by the bearing faces of the drive belts on the opposing ends of the display envelope, for the pressure equalisation assembly to be a cable secured to the chassis frame and connected at either end to a corresponding one of the undulating leaf springs, and for the cable to be co-operable with a tensioner.
Still further features of the invention provide for the engagement means to be hook formations located on operatively leading and trailing edges, respectively, of the display envelopes relative to the intended direction of travel, and for the trailing hook of a display envelope to engage the leading hook of an adjacent display envelope as it passes through the outlet of the storage compartment.
Yet further features of the invention provide for the display apparatus to include disengagement means for disengaging the leading and trailing hooks of successive display envelopes upon entry to the storage compartment through the inlet thereof, for the disengagement means to include an elongate spring member of substantially arcuate cross section locatable at the inlet to the storage compartment, the spring member being adapted to deflect the display envelopes and to cause disengagement of the engaged leading and trailing hooks of successive display envelopes.
Preferably, the storage compartment is curved In the vicinity of the outlet to cause the leading edges of a plurality of display envelopes in the storage compartment to be held in a fanned-out configuration, one of the rollers is driven by a motor, the motor is an electric motor, and the lighting means is a plurality of fluorescent tubes located on an operatively front wall of the storage compartment.
The invention extends to a display envelope for use with the display apparatus described above, the display envelope including two rectangular sheets of a flexible transparent antistatic material ultrasonically welded together at opposing ends, and having a leading and a trailing hook secured, respectively, to the welded ends of the envelope.
The invention extends further to a system for displaying advertising material, comprising:
at least one display apparatus adapted to sequentially position a plurality of display envelopes containing the advertising material in a presentation area for a predetermined period of time, each display envelope bearing a unique identification code;
a reader for reading the unique identification code on a display envelope when it is positioned in the presentation area;
a real time clock: and
storage means for storing the unique identification code of each display envelope when it is positioned in the presentation area, and the length of time for which it is present in the presentation area.
There is also provided for the unique identification code to indicate the identity of an advertiser whose advertising material is contained in the display envelope, for the identification code to represent the time period for which the display envelope is to be displayed in the presentation area, for the identification code to be a bar code, and for the reader to be a bar code scanner.
There is further provided for the display apparatus to include a sound facility, for the unique identification code to selectively initiate the playing of an advertising jingle through the sound facility when the display envelope is positioned in the presentation area, and for the sound facility to be a speaker.
There is still further provided for the display apparatus to include a communication bus for downloading the stored information to a billing facility for preparing itemised bills for advertisers whose advertising material is displayed in the display apparatus, for the system to include a portable storage facility connectable to the communication bus for storing the downloaded information, the storage facility being, in turn, connectable to the billing facility for transferring the downloaded information thereto, and for the billing facility to be a computer.